Archive for the ‘Astronomy’ Category

9/2/2018 A few months ago I decided to add an observatory since I was getting tired of hauling my telescope out and spending quite a bit of time in aligning it. Having an observatory will enable me to begin imaging almonst immediatly and to continue taking pictures long into the night. The observatory I'm installing is made by Nexdome in Canada. Here I will post some pictures of it as well as pictures I've taken during it's construction. Below are pictures I took from the Nexdome website.

I was really limited as to where I could place the observatory, both by the layout of our property and zoning restrictions for detached buildings. Thus, I decided to build on the south end of our driveway. This had advantages and disadvantages. It made it easy to build a platform for the obs, but difficult to install a robust heavy pier for the telescope. I ended up pouring a 2x2x1 foot cement footing that weighed in at about 600 pounds. I'm hoping that will provide enough rigidity for the pier so that I can take long exposure images without worrying about vibrations.. Here are the construction photos:

9/3/2018 The bids I got for the pier fabrication were way higher than I expected. I ended up going to a metal sales center and purchased essentially scrap pieces. I ended up with 3/8 steel plates and a 6 5/8 steel pipe with 3/8 thickness. They were able to cut the pieces to the sizes I needed, then I drilled the holes myself and tapped where necessary. I had a local auto fab shop grind off the sharp corners and edges and weld it all together. Instead of powder coating I cleaned everything with acetone then sprayed it with Rust-Oleum flat black. Here are the plans for the pier:

9/3/2018 Here are the plans for the observatory layout.

9/5/2018 The telescope computer storage box is finished.

9/14/2018 Here are the latest photos of the observatory and the interior. Everything is installed, but I'm still changing things to make it more workable inside. I still need to get the shutter and dome rotation working through the laptop using Sequience Generator Pro.

6/1/2018 My latest image tonight is Messier 81 (also known as NGC 3031 or Bode’s Galaxy) is a spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Due to it’s proximity to Earth, large size, and active galactic nucleus (which harbors a supermassive black hole), Messier 81 has been studied extensively by professional astronomers. The galaxy’s large size and relatively high brightness also make it a popular target for amateur astronomers. (Wikipedia)

This image was made using my new astrophotography camera and is composed of 29×60 second images. This camera is much more sensitive and the sensor tonight was cooled to 32 degrees F. I still have a lot to learn about using this camera and Astro Photography Tool software. These images were made with a camera gain set to 200 then the best 75% were stacked in DSS (Deep Space Stacker) along with 10 dark frames. I didn't use flat or bias frames.

The Crescent Nebula (also known as NGC 6888, Caldwell 27, Sharpless 105) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, about 5000 light-years away from Earth. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1792. It is formed by the fast stellar wind from the Wolf-Rayet star WR 136 (HD 192163) colliding with and energizing the slower moving wind ejected by the star when it became a red giant around 250,000 to 400,000 years ago. The result of the collision is a shell and two shock waves, one moving outward and one moving inward. The inward moving shock wave heats the stellar wind to X-ray-emitting temperatures.

It is a rather faint object located about 2 degrees SW of Sadr. For most telescopes it requires a UHC or OIII filter to see. Under favorable circumstances a telescope as small as 8 cm (with filter) can see its nebulosity. Larger telescopes (20 cm or more) reveal the crescent or a Euro sign shape which makes some to call it the "Euro sign nebula". (Wikipedia)

This image was taken on Oct 14 & 15 of 2019. It is composed of 210 x 120 sec exposures. The best were stacked in Deep Space Stacker then processed using PixInsight and Photo Shop.

This image was taken on Oct 14 &amp;amp;amp; 15 of 2019. It is composed of 210 x 120 sec exposures. The best were stacked in Deep Space Stacker then processed using PixInsight and Photo Shop[/caption]

9/25-27/2018 Here is M27, the Dumbbell Nebula, imaged over three nights with a total of 5 hours 24 minutes. This is the first image set taken in the observatory.

Here is another take on the same data:

11/16/18 This is Messier 33 or the Triangulum Galaxy. I've been imaging this galaxy over the last several days and have accumulated over 17 hours of images. This picture represents data post-processed from the best 30% of those images.
The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 3 million light-years (ly) from Earth in the constellation Triangulum. It is catalogued as Messier 33 or NGC 598. The Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, behind the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. It is one of the most distant permanent objects that can be viewed with the naked eye.

12/4/2018 This I Messier 34 is about 1500 light years away and spans 7.5 light years. This image was taken on 11/20/2018 and incudes 7 hours of imaging.

1/5/2019 Here is NGC 2238, the Rosette Nebula, which is 5000 light years from earth and 130 light years in diameter. This image is composed of 130 X 120 second exposure images that I took. I've reprocesssed this on 7/9/19 using PixInsight and Photoshop. Further imaging details:

Image

NGC 2238

Date

1/5/19

Exposure

120 S

No. of lights

130

Darks

YES

Flats

YES

Gain

200

Binning

2X2

Camera

ZWO ASI294MC Pro using Hyperstar V

Filter

STC Astro Duo-Narrowband

Software Used

Images Plus, PixInsight, PhotoShop

Telescope

Celestron 1100HD SCT

Mount

10Micron GM1000HPS

Focuser

MicroTouch Focuser

1/5/2019 NGC 7000 The North America Nebula

EXP: 60s x 90

Temp: -10C

Gain: 200

Bin: 2×2

Post Processed in IP then PS

Camera: ASI294MC-PRO with STC Astro Duo-Narrowband Filter

Celestron 1100HD with Hyperstar V

IC 405 (also known as the Flaming Star Nebula, SH 2-229, or Caldwell 31) is an emission and reflection nebula in the constellation Auriga, surrounding the bluish star AE Aurigae. It shines at magnitude +6.0. Its celestial coordinates are RA 05h 16.2m dec +34° 28′. It surrounds the irregular variable star AE Aurigae and is located near the emission nebula IC 410, the open clusters M38 and M36, and the K-class star Iota Aurigae. The nebula measures approximately 37.0' x 19.0', and lies about 1,500 light-years away from Earth. The nebula is about 5 light-years across.

Taken on Jan 29, 30, Feb 1

Exp=120 sec x 254 for 8 h 28 m

Bin = 1×1

Temp=-10 C

Gain=120

Telescope Celestron 1100 Edge HD

Camera ZWO ASI294MC-PRO with Hyperstar V

Filter STC Astro Duo-Narrowband

Mount 10Micron GM1000HPS on pier

Processed using Images Plus and PhotoShop

I imaged the North American nebula on June30th. It consists of 118 60 sec exposures (1 hour 58 minutes) at a gain of 200, Binning=1×1, T=0 deg C. It was post processed using Pixinsight and Photoshop and doesn’t contain darks or flats.

The North America Nebula (NGC 7000 or Caldwell 20) is an emission nebula in the constellation Cygnus, close to Deneb (the tail of the swan and its brightest star). The remarkable shape of the nebula resembles that of the continent of North America, complete with a prominent Gulf of Mexico.

The North America Nebula is large, covering an area of more than four times the size of the full moon; but its surface brightness is low, so normally it cannot be seen with the unaided eye. Binoculars and telescopes with large fields of view (approximately 3°) will show it as a foggy patch of light under sufficiently dark skies. (Wikipedia)

Tis is a reprocess of images that I took on Jan 7,2019. I reprocessed the data using Images Plus, PixInsight, and PhotoShop.

The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula situated in the Milky Way, being south of Orion's Belt in the constellation of Orion. It is one of the brightest nebulae, and is visible to the naked eye in the night sky. M42 is located at a distance of 1,344 ± 20 light years and is the closest region of massive star formation to Earth. The M42 nebula is estimated to be 24 light years across. It has a mass of about 2,000 times that of the Sun. Older texts frequently refer to the Orion Nebula as the Great Nebula in Orion or the Great Orion Nebula. (Wikipedia)

The Eagle Nebula (catalogued as Messier 16 or M16, and as NGC 6611, and also known as the Star Queen Nebula and The Spire) is a young open cluster of stars in the constellation Serpens. Both the "Eagle" and the "Star Queen" refer to visual impressions of the dark silhouette near the center of the nebula,[3][4] an area made famous as the "Pillars of Creation" imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope. The nebula contains several active star-forming gas and dust regions, including the aforementioned Pillars of Creation.

The Eagle Nebula is part of a diffuse emission nebula, or H II region, which is catalogued as IC 4703. This region of active current star formation is about 7000 light-years distant. A spire of gas that can be seen coming off the nebula in the northeastern part is approximately 9.5 light-years or about 90 trillion kilometers long.

8/3/2019 I've reprocessed images I took on 2/1/19 of IC 1848 the Soul Nebula.

The Soul Nebula is an emission nebula located in Cassiopeia. Several small open clusters are embedded in the nebula: CR 34, 632, and 634 (in the head) and IC 1848 (in the body). The object is more commonly called by the cluster designation IC 1848.

Small emission nebula IC 1871 is present just left of the top of the head, and small emission nebulae 670 and 669 are just below the lower back area.

The galaxies Maffei 1 and Maffei 2 are both nearby the nebula, although light extinction from the Milky Way makes them very hard to see. Once thought to be part of the Local Group, they are now known to belong to their own group- the IC 342/Maffei Group.

This complex is the eastern neighbor of IC1805 (Heart Nebula) and the two are often mentioned together as the "Heart and Soul".

This image is composed of 76 180 seconds images taken in the Hyperstar configuration.

8/5/2019

Here is a reprocess of images I took on 1/2/19 (my second try at imaging with Hyperstar V)
This is Messier 33 or the Triangulum Galaxy. The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 3 million light-years (ly) from Earth in the constellation Triangulum. It is catalogued as Messier 33 or NGC 598. The Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, behind the Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy. It is one of the most distant permanent objects that can be viewed with the naked eye.
Exp=60
Lights=60
Gain=150
Bin=2×2
Temp=-10 deg C
Processed in DSS then PI

12/6/2019 Last night I imaged IC 1805 the Heart Nebula. The Heart Nebula, IC 1805 lies some 7500 light years away from Earth and is located in the Perseus Arm of the Galaxy in the constellation Cassiopeia. It was discovered by William Herschel on 3 November 1787. This is an emission nebula showing glowing ionized hydrogen gas and darker dust lanes.

The very brightest part of this nebula (the knot at the western edge) is separately classified as NGC 896, because it was the first part of this nebula to be discovered.

The nebula's intense red output and its configuration are driven by the radiation emanating from a small group of stars near the nebula's center. This open cluster of stars known as Melotte 15 contains a few bright stars nearly 50 times the mass of our Sun, and many more dim stars that are only a fraction of our Sun's mass.

Imaging Data:

Exposure= 30s x 360 of which 269 were used

Binning = 1×1

Camera Temperature= -10 deg C

Filter= STC Astro Duo-Narrowband Filter

8/21/2019 On 8/19/2019 I imaged NGC 6960 or The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus.

It constitutes the visible portions of the Cygnus Loop, a supernova remnant, many portions of which have acquired their own individual names and catalogue identifiers. The source supernova was a star 20 times more massive than the Sun, which exploded around 8,000 years ago. The remnants have since expanded to cover an area of the sky roughly 3 degrees in diameter (about 6 times the diameter, or 36 times the area, of the full Moon). The distance to the nebula is not precisely known, but Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) data supports a distance of about 1,470 light-years.

The Hubble Space Telescope captured several images of the nebula. The analysis of the emissions from the nebula indicate the presence of oxygen, sulfur, and hydrogen. The Cygnus Loop is also a strong emitter of radio waves and x-rays.

Imaging Data:

Exposure= 30s x 240 of which 202 were used

Binning = 1×1

Camera Temperature= 0 deg C

Filter= STC Astro Duo-Narrowband Filter

This is a set of images taken on August 21, 2019 of IC 1396.
The Elephant's Trunk Nebula is a concentration of interstellar gas and dust within the much larger ionized gas region IC 1396 located in the constellation Cepheus about 2,400 light years away from Earth. The piece of the nebula shown here is the dark, dense globule IC 1396A; it is commonly called the Elephant's Trunk nebula because of its appearance at visible light wavelengths, where there is a dark patch with a bright, sinuous rim. The bright rim is the surface of the dense cloud that is being illuminated and ionized by a very bright, massive star (HD 206267) that is just to the east of IC 1396A. The entire IC 1396 region is ionized by the massive star, except for dense globules that can protect themselves from the star's harsh ultraviolet rays.

The Elephant's Trunk Nebula is now thought to be a site of star formation, containing several very young (less than 100,000 yr) stars that were discovered in infrared images in 2003. Two older (but still young, a couple of million years, by the standards of stars, which live for billions of years) stars are present in a small, circular cavity in the head of the globule. Winds from these young stars may have emptied the cavity.

The combined action of the light from the massive star ionizing and compressing the rim of the cloud, and the wind from the young stars shifting gas from the center outward lead to very high compression in the Elephant's Trunk Nebula. This pressure has triggered the current generation of protostars. (Wikipedia)

The Pleiades , also known as the Seven Sisters and Messier 45, are an open star cluster containing middle-aged, hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky.

The cluster is dominated by hot blue and luminous stars that have formed within the last 100 million years. Reflection nebulae around the brightest stars were once thought to be left over material from the formation of the cluster but are now considered likely to be an unrelated dust cloud in the interstellar medium through which the stars are currently passing.

Computer simulations have shown that the Pleiades were probably formed from a compact configuration that resembled the Orion Nebula. Astronomers estimate that the cluster will survive for about another 250 million years, after which it will disperse due to gravitational interactions with its galactic neighborhood. (Wikipedia)

Imaging Data:

August 23, 2019

Exposure= 30s x 300 of which 273 were used

Gain=120

Binning = 1×1

Camera Temperature= 0 deg C

Filter= LP UV/IR

Camera= ASI294MC PRO in Hyperstar mode

9/2/2019

I imaged NGC 281 on August 31, 2019. It is composed of 360 x 60s images.

NGC 281, IC 11 or Sh2-184 is a bright emission nebula and part of an H II region in the northern constellation of Cassiopeia and is part of the Milky Way's Perseus Spiral Arm. This 20×30 arcmin sized nebulosity is also associated with open cluster IC 1590, several Bok globules and the multiple star, B 1. It collectively forms Sh2-184, spanning over a larger area of 40 arcmin. A recent distance from radio parallaxes of water masers at 22 GHz made during 2014 is estimated it lies 2.82±0.20 kpc. (9200 ly.) from us. Colloquially, NGC 281 is also known as the Pacman Nebula for its resemblance to the video game character.

Imaging Data:

Date: 8/31/19

Exposure= 60s x 360

Binning = 1×1

Gain = 120

Camera Temperature= 0 deg C

Filter= STC Astro Duo-Narrowband Filter

Camera = ASI294MC PRO in Hyperstar position

10/4/2019

This image of the North sky Milky Way is composed of 10 x 120 second images. These were taken at a very dark site about 12 miles North of Moab Utah on Sept 30, 2019. I used my Star Adventurer tracker on my tripod to track with. The camera I used was my Nikon D850 coupled with my Tamron SP 15-30mm lens. The ISO was set to 800.

Picture saved with settings applied.

10/4/2019

This image of the South of the sky Milky Way is composed of 29 x 120 second images. These were taken at a very dark site about 12 miles North of Moab Utah on Sept 30, 2019. I used my Star Adventurer tracker on my tripod to track with. The camera I used was my Nikon D850 coupled with my Tamron SP 15-30mm lens. The ISO was set to 800.

The Omega Nebula is (Messier 17) between 5,000 and 6,000 light-years from Earth and it spans some 15 light-years in diameter. The cloud of interstellar matter of which this nebula is a part is roughly 40 light-years in diameter and has a mass of 30,000 solar masses. The total mass of the Omega Nebula is an estimated 800 solar masses.

It is considered one of the brightest and most massive star-forming regions of our galaxy. Its local geometry is similar to the Orion Nebula except that it is viewed edge-on rather than face-on.

The open cluster NGC 6618 lies embedded in the nebulosity and causes the gases of the nebula to shine due to radiation from these hot, young stars; however, the actual number of stars in the nebula is much higher – up to 800, 100 of spectral type earlier than B9, and 9 of spectral type O, plus over a thousand stars in formation on its outer regions. It is also one of the youngest clusters known, with an age of just 1 million years.

The luminous blue variable HD 168607, located in the south-east part of the Omega nebula, is generally assumed to be associated with it; its close neighbor, the blue hypergiant HD 168625, may be too.

The Swan portion of M17, the Omega Nebula in the Sagittarius nebulosity is said to resemble a barber's pole. (Wikipedia)

Imaging Data:

Date: 8/14/19

Exposure= 30s x 120 of which 67 were used

Binning = 1×1

Gain + 200

Camera Temperature= 0 deg C

Filter= STC Astro Duo-Narrowband Filter

Camera = ASI294MC PRO in Hyperstar position

Processed in DSS (lights only) then PS

The Iris Nebula, also known as NGC 7023 and Caldwell 4, is a bright reflection nebula and Caldwell object in the constellation Cepheus. NGC 7023 is actually the cluster within the nebula, LBN 487, and the nebula is lit by a magnitude +7 star, SAO 19158. It shines at magnitude +6.8. It is located near the Mira-type variable star T Cephei, and near the bright magnitude +3.23 variable star Beta Cephei (Alphirk). It lies 1,300 light-years away and is six light-years across. (Wikipedia)

Messier 102 (also known as M102 or the Spindle Galaxy) is a galaxy listed in the Messier Catalogue that has not been identified unambiguously. Its original discoverer Pierre Méchain later said that it was a duplicate observation of Messier 101, but more recent historical evidence favors that it is NGC 5866,[ although other galaxies have been suggested as possible identities. (Wikipedia)

Imaging Data:

Date: 11/7/14

Gain = 1600

Camera = Canon 60Da

11-26-2019

The Andromeda Galaxy , also known as Messier 31, or NGC 224 and originally the Andromeda Nebula, is a spiral galaxy approximately 780 kiloparsecs (2.5 million light-years) from Earth, and the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way. The galaxy's name stems from the area of the Earth's sky in which it appears, the constellation of Andromeda.

The virial mass of the Andromeda Galaxy is of the same order of magnitude as that of the Milky Way, at a trillion solar masses. The Andromeda Galaxy has a diameter of about 220,000 light-years, making it the largest member of the Local Group at least in terms of extension, if not mass.

The number of stars contained in the Andromeda Galaxy is estimated at one trillion (1×1012), or roughly twice the number estimated for the Milky Way.

The Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are expected to collide in ~4.5 billion years, merging to form a giant elliptical galaxy or a large lenticular galaxy. With an apparent magnitude of 3.4, the Andromeda Galaxy is among the brightest of the Messier objects making it visible to the naked eye from Earth on moonless nights, even when viewed from areas with moderate light pollution. (Wikipedia)

Imaging Data

Date: 11/18/2019

Exposure: 30 seconds

Number of Lights: 320

Gain: 120

Camera Type: ZWO ZSI294MC PRO

Filter: Astronomik UV-IR

Temp: -10 deg C

Telescope: Celestron 1100HS SCT

Mount: 10Micron

12-21-2019

This is an image of NGC 2264 which is a combination of the Cone Nebula and the Christmas Tree Nebula. This is located about 2600 light years from us.

Imaging Data:

Date: 12/19/19

Exposure: 30seconds x 540 of which 154 where used

Binning: 1×1

Gain: 120

Camera Temperature: -10 deg C

Filter: STC Astro Duo-Narrowband Filter

Camera: ASI294MC PRO in Hyperstar position

Mount : 10Micron GM1000HPS on pier

5/7/2020

This is a combination of M81 and M82 taken on the morning of 5/7/2020. It is from a stack of 40 exposures of 300 seconds each, stacked in Images Plus, processed with PixInsight and finally Photoshop.

Messier 81 (also known as NGC 3031 or Bode's Galaxy) is a spiral galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. Due to its proximity to Earth, large size and active galactic nucelus, which harbors a supermassive black hole, Messier 81 has been studied extensively by professional astronomers.

Messier 82 (also known as NGC 3034, Cigar Galaxy or M82) is the prototype nearby starburst galaxy about 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major. The starburst galaxy is five times brighter than the whole Milky Way and one hundred times brighter than our galaxy's center.

In 2005, the Hubble Space Telescope revealed 197 young massive clusters in the starburst core. The average mass of these clusters is around 2×105 M, hence the starburst core is a very energetic and high-density environment. Throughout the galaxy's center, young stars are being born 10 times faster than they are inside our entire Milky Way Galaxy.

Imaging Data:

Date: 5/7/2020

Exposure= 300s x 40 of which 33 were used

Binning = 1×1

Gain = 120

Camera Temperature= -10 deg C

Filter= STC Astro Duo-Narrowband Filter

Camera = ASI294MC PRO in Hyperstar position

5/7/2020

Messier 3 (M3 or NGC 5272) is a globular cluster of stars in the northern constellation of Canes Venatici. It was discovered on May 3, 1764, and was the first Messier object to be discovered by Charles Messier himself. Messier originally mistook the object for a nebula without stars. This mistake was corrected after the stars were resolved by William Herschel around 1784. Since then, it has become one of the best-studied globular clusters. Identification of the cluster's unusually large variable star population was begun in 1913 by American astronomer Solon Irving Bailey and new variable members continue to be identified up through 2004.

Many amateur astronomers consider it one of the finest northern globular clusters, following only Messier 13. M3 has an apparent magnitude of 6.2,[5] making it a difficult naked eye target even with dark conditions. With a moderate-sized telescope, the cluster is fully defined. It can be a challenge to locate through the technique of star hopping, but can be found by looking almost exactly halfway along an imaginary line connecting the bright star Arcturus to Cor Caroli. Using a telescope with a 25 cm (9.8 in) aperture, the cluster has a bright core with a diameter of about 6 arcminutes and spans a total of 12 arcminutes.

This cluster is one of the largest and brightest, and is made up of around 500,000 stars. It is estimated to be 8 billion years old. It is located at a distance of about 33,900 light-years away from Earth (Wikipedia)

Imaging Data:

Date: 5/7/2020

Exposure= 300s x 40 of which 7 were used for a total of 35 minutes

Gain=120

Binning = 1×1

Camera Temperature=-10 deg C

Filter= STC Astro Duo-Narrowband Filter

Camera: ASI294MC PRO in Hyperstar configuration

The Sombrero Galaxy (also known as Messier Object 104, M104 or NGC 4594) is a galaxy in the constellation Virgo found 9.55 megaparsecs (31.1 million light-years) from Earth. The galaxy has a diameter of approximately 15 kiloparsecs (49,000 light-years), 30% the size of the Milky Way. It has a bright nucleus, an unusually large central bulge, and a prominent dust lane in its inclined disk. The dark dust lane and the bulge give this galaxy the appearance of a sombrero hat. Astronomers initially thought that the halo was small and light, indicative of a spiral galaxy, but the Spitzer Space Telescope found that the dust ring around the Sombrero Galaxy is larger and more massive than previously thought, indicative of a giant elliptical galaxy. The galaxy has an apparent magnitude of +8.0, making it easily visible with amateur telescopes, and it is considered by some authors to be the galaxy with the highest absolute magnitude within a radius of 10 megaparsecs of the Milky Way. Its large bulge, its central supermassive black hole, and its dust lane all attract the attention of professional astronomers. Wikipedia

Imaging Data:

Date: 5/8/2020

Exposure= 300s x 17

Binning = 1×1

Gain = 120

Camera Temperature= -10 deg C

Filter= STC Astro Duo-Narrowband Filter

Camera = ASI294MC PRO in Hyperstar position

Messier 106 (also known as NGC 4258) is an intermediate spiral galaxy in the constellation Canes Venatici. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1781. M106 is at a distance of about 22 to 25 million light-years away from Earth. M106 contains an active nucleus classified as a Type 2 Seyfert, and the presence of a central supermassive black hole has been demonstrated from radio-wavelength observations of the rotation of a disk of molecular gas orbiting within the inner light-year around the black hole. NGC 4217 is a possible companion galaxy of Messier 106. A Type II supernova was observed in M106 in May 2014. Wikipedia

Imaging Data:

Date: 5/8/2020

Exposure= 300s x 59

Binning = 1×1

Gain = 120

Camera Temperature= -10 deg C

Filter= STC Astro Duo-Narrowband Filter

Camera = ASI294MC PRO in Hyperstar position

The Pinwheel Galaxy (also known as Messier 101, M101 or NGC 5457) is a face-on spiral galaxy distanced 21 million light-years (six megaparsecs) away from Earth in the constellation Ursa Major. Discovered by Pierre Méchain on March 27, 1781, it was communicated to Charles Messier who verified its position for inclusion in the Messier Catalogue as one of its final entries.

M101 is a large galaxy, with a diameter of 170,000 light-years. By comparison, the Milky Way has a diameter of 100,000 light years. It has around a trillion stars, twice the number in the Milky Way. It has a disk mass on the order of 100 billion solar masses, along with a small central bulge of about 3 billion solar masses. Wikipedia

Imaging Data:

Date: April 21, 24, 28 and May 9 2020

Exposure= 30s x 478

60s x 420

120s x 232

These were reduced from 1130 exposures to 387 which represented the best.

The final images represented 5 hours and 16 minutes which resulted in the final picture.

The Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as Messier 51, and NGC 5194, is an interacting grand-design spiral galaxy with a Seyfert 2 active galactic nucleus. It lies in the constellation Canes Venatici, and was the first galaxy to be classified as a spiral galaxy. Its distance is estimated to be 23 million light-years away from Earth.

The galaxy and its companion, NGC 5195, are easily observed by amateur astronomers, and the two galaxies may be seen with binoculars. The Whirlpool Galaxy has been extensively observed by professional astronomers, who study it to understand galaxy structure (particularly structure associated with the spiral arms) and galaxy interactions. (Wikipedia)